Three cars of Army officers stolen

CCTV captures theft bid, police try to identify culprits

Three cars of two Indian Army officers were stolen from outside their Malviya Nagar residences in south Delhi during the wee hours of Tuesday morning.

Both the incidents were caught on CCTV cameras installed at RPS Flats in Sheikh Sarai, and police are trying to identify culprits visible on the footage.

Initial police investigation has revealed that a group of three to four youths was roaming in a car in the neighbourhood on Sunday and Monday.

“We have collected CCTV footage available from the area and are analysing it. It is suspected that a gang of auto-lifters is involved in both the incidents,” a police official said.

Two cars of Captain Anuj Sharma were stolen. Sharma told police that he had parked his cars – Tata Indigo and Toyota Qualis – outside his home at around 10 pm on Monday.
“Both the cars were locked, but they were found missing at 7.10 am on Tuesday,” the official added.

Second incident

A Maruti Suzuki Swift Dzire was stolen from the same neighbourhood. Lieutenant Colonel (Retd) Jai Singh told police that the car was parked in front of his house since 4 pm on Monday.

“However, it was also found missing at around 6.15 am on Tuesday,” the official said. The car was registered in the name of Panipat resident Arvind Dawar.

Police have also received a lead in the investigation after a visiting card of Rajiv Mishra, a relative of Captain Anuj, was found on Delhi-Meerut road.

It is suspected that the gang fled to Meerut and threw the documents and other items kept in the car.

Mishra claims that it appears as if the gang visible on the footage had done a recce of the area on Sunday to identify the vehicles which could be stolen.

“The footage shows that the gang came back during the wee hours of Tuesday and fled with the vehicles within five minutes,” he said.

They had also tried to steal another vehicle, but had to flee as they failed to open its lock.

Separate cases of theft under section 379 of the Indian Penal Code have been lodged against unidentified persons at Malviya Nagar police station.